Stop in for a cup of coffee
Probably Goodyear Wranglers. The last set lasted 35,000 and work pretty good in the snow and aren't too noisy on the highway.
The Goodyear GSA tires were awesome, I believe they were Eagle GSA.... I was very impressed with those when we were on a test trip...
We were doing the annual cold trip to Minnesota and Upper Peninsula Michigan when I was in climate control... I had to represent climate control for the heater performance testing... That trip was fun...
We were testing the Jeep Grand Cherokees (1st gen) with different transfer case and tire combinations with the transfer case group... The middle transfer case, I believe we called it the 242 case, had options for 2 WD & 4 WD high and low - the most choices for selection... They also had the standard and full time four wheel drive transfer cases and the two different tire options, the standard Goodyear tires (I can't remember which ones they were), and the Goodyear Eagle GSA tires which were optional from the factory...
Now the test was to see how the transfer cases and tires acted... The test consisted of finding at least 4" of fresh fallen snow, and a 90° turn with no stop... We were in upper peninsula Michigan in middle of winter and found a deserted road with the turn and 4" of fresh snow that fell overnight.... We would take the Grand Cherokees around the 90° turn and see how fast we could take the turn before running off the road... We got a few tries on each Jeep so we could start out easy and build up...
On the standard transfer case and standard tires, I was able to take the turn at 28 MPH and keep it on the road... When I tried faster, I ran off the road into the ditch...
Then I got to drive the one with the 242 transfer case and GSA tires... I was able to take that same turn at 34 MPH and still keep it under control... Mid way through the turn I started sliding off the road a little and I had the guy from Vehicle Development in the passenger seat coaching me through saying, "Stay in it, don't let off, keep going, don't stop!!!" as I am sliding off the road... I kept in it and fought the ditch and eventually pulled out back on the road without getting stuck... Man, was that a blast...
There were some times that we took it too fast and got stuck in the ditch... That was not a problem because we had about a dozen 4x4 SUV vehicles with us, mostly Jeeps and a couple competitors to see how we compared to them.... We had walkie talkies in the cars and if we got stuck, we just hollered out that we were stuck and someone else with one of the other Jeeps would come with a tow strap and pull you out, no big deal... Only one person could run the test at a time to keep from hitting the others for safety...
We would only use Jeeps to pull us out of the ditch... You are not allowed to pull a Jeep with a competitive vehicle because they did not want to soil the reputation of Jeep's four wheel drive capabilities... Only a Jeep can pull another Jeep when you are on a road trip... (There is another good story about that and the Hoover Dam)...
So I was able to take the turn in the 242 transfer case and GSA tires at 34 MPH versus only 28 MPH with the standard transfer case and tires... :steering:
I couldn't believe that
I got to drive Jeeps into a ditch and got paid for it!!! How great is that??? :D :lol:
